Saturday, 24 December 2011

The "launch tour" of the new Greenpeace luxury yacht continues in style

The "launch tour" of the Greenpeace luxury yacht Rainbow Warrior III continues in style. Having enjoyed the beautiful sights and sounds of the Swedish archipelago and Stockholm, the group of carefully selected activists on board a few days ago reached the shores of Spain, where they enjoyed a gourmet meal in Barcelona prepared by the famous Michelin star chef Diego Guerrero.

The five (or six?) course meal, with fish "caught the same morning by local artisanal fishermen" was "the best meal of my life", enthuses the activist Tracy:

The mess was transformed by staff and volunteers from our Spanish office under Diego’s direction into a fine dining lounge with linens, flower arrangements and a perplexing number of utensils. The setting inspired a transformation among the crew as well as, or was it Helena’s little black dress? Either way our best clothes came out of the bottom of the lockers and bags so we began to better fit the elegant scene.

We sat down with Ramon, musicians from the band Maez, el Pais blogger Mikel López Iturriaga and our Spanish colleagues to the first course called Mini Babybell which has won Diego national awards for pinchos and tapas. It’s a camembert and truffle creation that looked like, obviously, a mini babybell cheese.

The feast continued with other gourmet courses:

Next up Vieira – the scallops.

Then sukiyaki – a miso soup that looked like a cocktail, or a cappuccino?

Then an egg dish dumpling…

And the beautiful Gilthead bream - with orange and chocolate.

Breaking open the egg I discovered a gooey centre of mango surrounded by coconut cream the colour and consistency of a soft boiled egg. The shell was chocolate. Diego later told me the dish is called “This is not an egg”

After the exquisite dinner the evening continued in style:

The night was not over, three musicians from Maez performed on the deck of the Rainbow Warrior for the crew. Pablo has a beautiful voice, he sings in English and it’s worth listening to their new EP. A big thank you must go out to everyone who created such an amazing welcome to Barcelona for the ship and crew. You’re all stars.

As winter weather is making the Mediterranean chillier, we are looking forward to new and exciting reports from more exotic destinations on the continuing Rainbow Warrior III "launch tour". Could the next stop be somewhere in the Caribbean, where the cruise season now is at its best?